Senior volunteers make communities better

May 16, 2012

Ira and Barbara Smith / USA Today

Written by

Janice Lloyd

USA Today

Ira and Barbara Smith of Acton, Mass., have been making dreams come true since 1990.

When they heard about an El Salvadoran woman trying to furnish a home in Eastern Massachusetts, they put a notice in their church bulletin to see if anyone wanted to donate used furniture. That's all it took.

"We were drowned by the amount of items offered," says Barbara Smith. She adds that they were able to furnish the woman's two-bedroom apartment with everything she needed and more.

The Smiths were hooked. Friday, they got a big thank you for founding Household Goods Recyling of Massachusetts, which has become one of the largest household assistance providers in New England. They volunteer there six days a week (They take off most Sundays).

The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) and the MetLife Foundation celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the Older Volunteers Enrich America Awards by honoring the top volunteers from the last decade with lifetime achievement awards. The Smiths traveled to Washington, D.C., to receive their award.

"When I get to interact with people like the Smiths, inspiration is too light a word," says Sandy Markwood, the group's CEO.

Ira, 81, and Barbara, 80, say they're in good company. They worked out of their house, filling up the carport with donated goods, for 10 years by themselves, before their non-profit charity set up shop at a nearby church.

"From then on the volunteers flooded in to help us," says Ira. "Last year, we had 600 volunteers. They're professionals who have retired, so we have many talented people who can help out with any kind of problem."

Barbara's favorite part? "People have to make an appointment because we help out 10 to 15 families a day, but we have a volunteer go around with each family and they get to pick out exactly what they want. It's like shopping for them."

Except they don't have to go through a checkout line. In addition to refugees, homeless families, veterans, and flood victims have left very grateful. A face the Smiths will never forget?

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"She was handicapped and coming in a wheelchair," says Ira. "She came through the door with the biggest smile on her face. She lifted up her crippled hand to shake my hand. She was picking out furniture so she could live independently in her own place. She was so happy she was going to be able to live on her own.

"I called it the miracle of independence."

Over the last nine years, 1,000 volunteers ages 54 to 92 years old have been nominated and 27 honored by MetLife and n4a for contributions to their local communities. This year, 10 previous recipients received lifetime achievement awards in one of three categories. The winner in each category was selected through an online voting process and designated gold honoree of the decade.

The Smiths are gold honorees in the community champions category. The other gold honorees of the decade:

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